Weeks passed, Kimba grew well again, as the time approached that he must leave, he began to spend his time taking tours of the kingdom, although whenever he went with one of the lions he would always seem distracted and only half-awake. It was with Vitani that he truly came alive, listening to her every word and play-fighting with her in the long grass.

It so happened that one night the two spent longer out in the lands than they intended. It grew so late that the stars emerged, they could not travel fast as Kimba was still recovering, and had to rest often, so Vitani decided that she would teach him an old game she had often played with Kovu and Kiara.

"The idea is to find shapes in the stars." She explained, lying down on her back. "Like, you see that bundle over there? If you join them to those two over there, it looks like…"

"A mouse." Kimba finished for her, with a laugh, "Oh, I haven't played this in years. Father's always so busy and I don't have any brother or sisters." He looked across at Vitani, "Not like you, you're truly blessed to have Kovu and Kiara."

Vitani kept her eyes on the stars, as though they would hide her pride at those words. "I know. They're great kids, and Kiara's going to be a wonderful queen one day."

Kimba frowned to himself, "And what about you, Vitani? You are a princess, don't you ever want to be a queen?"

Vitani felt her mind go blank. "I don't envy Kiara, if that's what you mean."

"Being jealous and wanting something aren't the same thing though." Kimba sighed, "Your father was jealous, and that's what drove him down that dark path, but just wanting something is completely different."

Vitani tried to think, "Well… " She sighed heavily, "Yes, I do want to be a queen. I think I'd be good at it. But it'll never happen, Kiara's a good girl, she'll marry well and have lots of cubs."

"It could happen though." Kimba spoke suggestively. "If you married a prince."

Vitani rolled her eyes, not picking up on the tone in his voice. "Yeah, because princes stumble into the kingdom all the time. And even if they did, they'd want Kiara over me." Her voice became softer, as though she herself were becoming more vulnerable. "Kiara's younger, and she's got a better pedigree, she's closer to the throne and she's prettier than me."

"Prettiness is fleeting, beauty is forever." Kimba replied in a comforting tone. "And as I have told you many times, you are very beautiful Vitani."

Vitani blushed and turned onto her side to look at him. "Thank you." Her voice came out in a sigh, it was becoming harder for her to not become attached to him, but she knew he would be gone sooner or later.

And all too soon the day came when the pride knew he had to leave. It was a sad time for many; they had grown to like the white lion prince and his charming ways. None were so sad as Vitani to see him go, and she spent much of that day on the top of pride rock watching his pale shape retreating into the horizon.

"Room for two?" Scar's smooth voice questioned as he settled himself beside the lioness.

Vitani shrugged, something she didn't do much because she knew her father loathed it, he said it was a poor excuse for being too lazy to speak. Today, however, he did not chide her.

"You're going to miss him, aren't you?" Scar asked, watching the shape with eyes the same shade as his child's.

Vitani lowered her head. "He said I was beautiful. No-one's ever said that about me before… except for you, and you don't count-"

"Because I'm your father." Scar finished for her. "he did seem very taken with you." The older lion sighed and turned to look at the lioness his cub had become. She could deny it as much as she wanted, she was beautiful, slim like Zira, thick fur like him, she took the best of both of them and made it her own, so much about her was her own now, it was clear she was finally grown up.

"…You love him, don't you?" Scar spoke softly to her.

Vitani gazed up at her father, her emerald eyes big and sad, "I do."

"Then don't worry." Scar nuzzled his face against hers, remembering that once upon a time, his head had been bigger than her entire body, and she had laid in his mane for hours on end, content to be close to him. "He'll come back."

And he did, bringing with him two more white lions, his mother and father, who went off with Simba, Nala, Scar and Zira one afternoon to have what they told the cubs was a 'grown-up chat'. Vitani tagged along in secret behind the adults, taking care to remain downwind.

"Well," the white king began, "Firstly I wish to thank you for taking care of the boy. He's our only child, it's leave the kingdom in complete chaos if he were to die."

Simba merely nodded, "Not a problem, but there must be other reasons for travelling all this way?"

The albino lioness cut in before her husband, "Yes, Kimba came home full of talk about a princess who lives here. He may not even be aware of it, but as I'm sure you two ladies are aware," she nodded to Nala and Zira, "A mother knows when her son falls in love."

Nala blushed slightly, "I'm afraid I wouldn't know, I only have a daughter, though I'm sure I'll be the first to know when she does fall for some lion."

Zira purred and nuzzled her head against Scar's chest, purely because she loved to be seen to be his mate, "I've got two boys, one's too young for love yet, but you're right, I knew the moment when Nuka fell hard and fast for someone."

Scar raised an eyebrow at her, "You might have told me, I've been trying to work out which one of those lionesses is his mate for weeks."

The assembled felines laughed together and finally Simba spoke again.

"So, your son has fallen for a princess here? I suppose you have come to propose a match?"

The king nodded his large white head, "Yes. We understand the lady in question is Princess Kiara?"

Vitani's eyes widened, and then closed rapidly to try and blink away the painful tears that suddenly leapt to the surface. Her head hung low, she began to walk back to the den, intent on hiding away in the back forevermore.

Scar frowned to himself, "Now hang on just one second-"
Nala cut him off, "Kiara isn't ready to marry anyone yet, and in any case, she barely spent any time with your boy."

The king frowned, clearly confused, "But… he said she took him on tours of the kingdom, that she was the one who found him."

His queen added, "he called her 'angel'."

Realisation dawned across the pride landers faces.

Simba stood up, calm and collected, "Well then, you have no need to speak to me or my mate. It's not our daughter your son is besotted with." He nodded his head at Scar and Zira, "It's theirs."
For a moment the white lion pair looked stunned, then the queen stammered, "They're royalty?"

"Prince and Princess of the realm, thank you very much." Scar muttered. "Our children are technically speaking royalty, and we do have a daughter, Vitani."
Zira nodded, grinning at the looks of shock on the noble white faces, "And Kimba did call her 'Angel' all the time he was here."

Negotiations took less than an hour, and then Scar excused himself to go find his daughter and introduce her to her future in-laws. He began to get concerned when he was told by a rather squeaky-voiced Kovu that she hadn't been around all afternoon.

Slowly he walked into the darkened den and whispered, "Vitani?"

"Go away." Came the curt reply. Scar smiled and walked deeper inside to when his daughter was slumped.

He sat beside her stretched out form, "Now what's put you in this mood?"

Vitani gave him a glare so full of hatred for a moment Scar considered backing away, but he held his ground. "What's put me in this mood?! You arranging for Kimba to marry that silly little feather of a lioness Kiara is what's put me in this mood!" She snarled, not meaning the insults at all, but taking out her anger the only way she knew how. "You knew I love him Daddy! You knew and you did it anyway!" tears were forming in the corners of her eyes now, her reserve breaking.

Scar smiled in a warm, fatherly manner, "Vitani, I think you may have got the wrong end of a very long stick."
"Eh?" was her only response, staring blankly at her father.

"What your father means," came Kimba's charming voice from the cave mouth, where he stood wearing the biggest smile Vitani had ever seen, "Is that you and I are now engaged."

For a moment Scar was sure there were two of his daughter, she moved so fast across the cave floor to Kimba's side. Suddenly she was rubbing her head against his and purring that she loved him, and his response was that he honestly did love her too.

The two youngsters were wed, and the prides celebrated; though at the end of the day when it was time for Vitani to leave, the happiness turned to a stunned realisation that's she really was leaving.

Tears running down her cheeks, the young lioness had nuzzled up to her parents and allowed them to hold her in a way they hadn't since she was a cub. Softly she promised to visit them whenever she could, and swore to never forget her pride.

And she never did, coming to visit at least once a season, bringing news about her new life as a queen, of the beautiful lands she ruled and the magnificent animals that she hunted, and one beautiful summer day she had walked up onto the rock, a truly lovely adult now, and stepped aside to show her entire family her pride and joy, a pure white lioness cub. With utter delight in her voice she told her parents that this was their first grandchild, Princess Kamaria.